by Fiery Moon
Before he had time to curse, the Moonstone pillar exploded apart with a loud boom and shattered into numerous fragments. Xiao Chen reacted quickly and grabbed at some of the fragments with his hands before falling downwards. After the Moonstone pillar exploded, the stone platform below them was destroyed too, thus Xiao Chen fell down together with Xiao Yulan, who he was still carrying.
“No!” Seeing the Spirit Weapon snatched from right under his nose and the Moonstone pillar breaking into pieces, the man in blue shouted out loudly. That thin yellow barrier suddenly seemed to emit a great repelling force, causing the man in blue to be blasted out. The hole in the barrier rapidly mended itself.
The man in blue had been watching as all these things played out. He was crushed. After vomiting blood from anger and the backlash of the barrier, he fainted!
In a narrow stone room, Xiao Yulan closed her eyes as she leaned back on the wall. Her complexion was very pale as she kept murmuring in a low voice. Xiao Chen frowned and looked at the hole about ten meters above them, at a loss for what to do.
“Cousin Xiao Chen, am I dying?” Xiao Yulan opened her eyes and inquired weakly. She had been struck by Elder Zhang’s strongest technique earlier. The punch of a peak Martial Grand Master augmented by the Reckless Heavy Punch Martial Technique had such an enormous force behind it that it almost shattered all her meridians. Even worse, the Martial Spirit in her body had no way to treat this damage.
Xiao Chen walked over, sat down by her side, and smiled: “Stop talking nonsense cousin. Rest well. This pit is only about ten meters deep. I will think of a way to get us out as soon as possible.”
When Xiao Yulan heard that, a bitter smile appeared on her pale face, “If you are able to leave, then leave by yourself, you don’t have to bother with me. Since the day I was born, I have been destined to bring misfortune to the people around me... I should have died long ago.”
Xiao Chen smiled, “Stop saying silly things, there is no way I will abandon you here. As long as I am alive, I will not let you die.”
There was not a single trace of blood on Xiao Yulan’s face, and her lips parted in a murmur: “Don’t you think that it was strange that I was cultivating alone on Seven Horn Mountain all this time?”
“It is indeed strange, but everyone has their own secrets to hide. I don’t think it is good to dig into the secrets of others.” Xiao Chen squinted while pursing his lips.
“When I was five years old, I had already condensed my Martial Soul. I remember the horrified expression on my father’s face. I was very young back then, so I could not understand why he felt such horror. I only felt that the flower in my body was very pretty.”
“I used to have an elder sister. I did not understand the situation then and showed Poinsettia to her. After she got poisoned by it, she fell down and suffered an injury that made her bleed... thus, she was poisoned to death by me like this. Ever since then, I finally understood why my father did not like me. I am poisonous; the bowls and cups that I used to use, even the stool that I sat on, have to be cleaned multiple times.”
“I could not even play with the other children. Cousin Xiao Chen, do you remember? We used to play house together when we were young, but when my Martial Soul appeared, my father forbade me from playing with the others. I was very upset and would often hide somewhere to cry. When I was eight years old, my father sent me to Seven Horn Mountain to cultivate. Ever since then, I’ve never left the mountain… Every once in a while, my father sends some things up the mountain to me.”
Xiao Yulan spoke very slowly, as though she was reminiscing about the distant past. Her pale smile suddenly brightened, “I rarely meet people on the mountain. When I first met cousin, I actually did not recognize you and even injured you. I was very afraid then, afraid that you would call me a freak. You have no idea…… All these years, I have been killing all these Spirit Beasts on the mountain, and there were many times where even I thought that I was a freak.”
Xiao Chen felt grief in his heart, abruptly interrupting her, “Cousin Yulan, you are not a freak. You are very pretty, so much more so than the girls below the mountain. A freak would not give me a bottle of medicine to treat my wounds.”
A trace of redness appeared on Xiao Yulan’s pale face, but she wasn’t fully convinced, “really?”
Xiao Chen replied seriously, “Really. Cousin, stop speaking for now, have a good rest first.”
Perhaps she believed Xiao Chen’s words or maybe she was very tired, but Xiao Yulan slowly closed her eyes as her breathing became calm and even. Xiao Chen raised his head to gain a visual of the hole above them, shaking his head helplessly as he took out the broken sword.
There was a faint glow on the body of this azure sword. Xiao Chen held the handle and brandished it, waving it around for a while. He could not feel any strong might emitting from the sword and even infusing it with Essence yielded no reaction.
Could this just be an ordinary sword? Xiao Chen felt a little dispirited and put away the sword. Afterwards, he took out the Moonstone he grabbed by chance and grinned wide, because at least this Moonstone was not fake. With such a large piece, it would not be a problem to exchange this for a hundred thousand taels of gold.
However, the critical problem now was a way out, and a ten meters pit was not something an Inferior Grade Martial Disciple could jump out of just like that. Even with Xiao Yulan’s cultivation, it would not be possible. Furthermore, her meridians were currently injured, rendering her incapable of using her Essence.
Chapter 14: An Awkward Healing
“Sister… sister, Yulan did not… on purpose…”
Xiao Yulan seemed to be having a nightmare, the tight knit of her eyebrows speaking leagues about the trauma she was feeling. Looking pale as a ghost, her murmurs appeared to have no end in sight. But at the end of the day, considering Xiao Chen had been a shut-in his entire life without much contact to women prior to his ‘ascension’, he was at a loss to what to do. Had it been otherwise, this kind of situation should not have disconcerted him as much as it did.
Xiao Chen cultivated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation, which was, despite its tyrannical nature, still a legitimate Immortal Cultivation Technique. However, it had one major drawback in this world. There was simply no Immortal Qi in this world. Even so, if he used his Essence, it would definitely have a trace of a similar healing effect to the Immortal Qi. Xiao Chen had also received a punch from Elder Zhang earlier and injured his heart and lungs but it took merely a bit of nourishing by Essence before it was completely healed.
It was definitely effective. He decided to give it a try when he had thought of this idea. He then slowly straightened out Xiao Yulan’s body and placed his hand on her shoulder, and circulated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. Threads of gentle Essence slowly poured into Xiao Yulan’s body through his palm and fingers.
His consciousness followed the Essence closely and entered into Xiao Yulan’s meridians, but all that laid in store for him was shock as he saw how severely her meridians had been damaged. There were scars of varying sizes in the eight major meridians, and they had many gorges and were very distorted in shape. Some of the minor meridians were only connected to each other by a thread, seeming to be on the verge of snapping apart at any moment. It was a shocking sight.
Xiao Chen carefully controlled the Essence and nourished the injured meridians. The nourishing sensation seemed to placate Xiao Yulan’s pained expression and her face began to regain color. She could feel a certain warmth moving gently around in her meridians, inordinately amazing her. As she knew Xiao Chen was the one treating her, a tinge of red pervaded her face.
Xiao Chen used his consciousness to control the Essence in Xiao Yulan’s body, making it circulate a whole cycle before sending his consciousness even deeper. The scars seemed to recover significantly everywhere he went. He controlled his Essence to head towards Xiao Yulan’s Dantian, where a beautiful Poinsettia resided. Right now, it seemed di
spirited and listless, as though it was withered.
“Cousin Xiao Chen, that’s enough.”
The voice suddenly entered his brain, startling Xiao Chen. It took a long time for him to react. This was the sound of Xiao Yulan’s consciousness speaking directly to him. Immediately after, he realized that he had not asked for her permission to send his consciousness into her. It was bad etiquette to enter another person’s body in the way he did, even more-so if the counterpart was a girl.
Xiao Chen withdrew his consciousness and Essence before getting up, but he felt dizzy and sat down again. He laughed bitterly, as it turned out that treating others was a very tiresome matter.
Xiao Yulan asked worriedly: “Are you alright, Cousin Xiao Chen?.”
“I’m fine, don’t worry, Cousin. I just exhausted a lot of my Essence. I will be fine after some rest. Are you feeling better yet?” Xiao Chen stated.
Xiao Yulan blushed and replied in a soft voice, “Thank you, Cousin Xiao Chen, I am feeling much better.”
“Then that’s good. After a few more days of treatment, Cousin’s injuries should be completely recovered.”
Time went by very fast in the stone room. In the blink of an eye, six days had already passed. The rations the two of them had taken with them had already been spent two days ago. Although it was not a big issue for Martial Cultivators to not eat or drink for a few days, if it went on for an extended period of time, they would still die.
In these six days, Xiao Yulan’s body had pretty much recovered thoroughly. Despite that, her body still seemed a little weak due to lacking nourishment. Every day, after treating Xiao Yulan’s injuries, Xiao Chen would cultivate. He was already able to freely use the Divine Thunder Break. He also raised the amount of Purple Thunder True Fire he could conjure. At the same time, he also consolidated his Inferior Grade Martial Disciple cultivation.
Today was the day of the duel with Xiao Jian. If he was not able to get out, there was no telling what sort of rumors would spread outside. He raised his head to look at the hole ten meters above them, feeling distraught and anxious.
“Cousin Xiao Chen, can I take a look at the Spirit Weapon from the Moonstone pillar?” Xiao Yulan asked weakly.
Xiao Chen nodded his head. He took out the broken sword and handed it to Xiao Yulan, “This Spirit Weapon does not seem to be anything special. I have been trying to use it for the past few days.”
Xiao Yulan did not say anything. Instead, she caressed the body of the sword and took out a green thread and dropped it onto the sword slowly. When it touched the blade of the sword, it split into two pieces. Shortly after, she took out a short sword from below her feet and slashed it at the sword, the result thereupon being a resounding crashing sound! The short sword was immediately bisected into two roughly-cut pieces.
“It cuts threads with just a touch and slices through metal like mud. This is no ordinary sword.”
Xiao Chen smiled: “Even so, it is not able to help us now. Unless it can help us fly up?”
Xiao Yulan smiled gently: “Who said it can't?”
Xiao Chen only saw her leap up gently, rising about three meters up towards the top of the pit. Right as gravity picked up around her, she used the broken sword and struck it into the wall. The sword completely sank into the pit wall. Her right hand held onto the handle and, using that as a perch and propeller for momentum, her body found second wind in the air again. After a few renditions of this, she managed to escape the pit.
Xiao Chen stood below, starting in shock. There was a clattering sound, generated as the sword made its way back down and hit the ground. Xiao Yulan shouted from up top, “Cousin, come up quickly, those people are gone already.”
Xiao Chen picked up the broken sword, feeling excited. He imitated Xiao Yulan and, after a few jumps, managed to escape the pit as well. As a breeze of fresh air swept over him with a deep caress, Xiao Chen felt the urge to shout out loudly.
For some reason, the body of the dead Elder Zhang did not rot. Xiao Chen could not care a whit about that and searched everywhere for any remaining broken pieces of Moonstone and collected them all.
The two of them returned through the pathway they came from. With the assistance of the broken sword, the stone wall that had been in their way in the past was effortlessly slashed open. Before descending the mountain, Xiao Chen invited Xiao Yulan to come with him.
Xiao Yulan hesitated for a while before accepting the invitation. After being trapped in there with Xiao Chen, she already knew that today was the day of the duel with Xiao Jian. She was a little worried about Xiao Chen and had decided to go down the mountain to take a look.
Xiao Clan, martial hall.
At this moment, the huge martial hall was already filled with people, indicating that all the disciples of the younger generation had come to watch. Because of the rumors spread by the servants, there were a significant amount of people.
“Eldest Young Master, is this Xiao Chen not going to show up?” A Xiao Clan disciple that had a good relationship with Xiao Jian spoke from below the arena in the martial hall.
“Yes, I believe that Xiao Chen is too cowardly to show up. He’s merely a piece of trash at the 9th grade of Spirit Refinement and actually dares to duel with the Eldest Young Master—how insolent.”
Chapter 15: Decisive Battle with Xiao Jian
Xiao Jian was dressed in a blue gi, making him look elegant and confident. However, he had a gloomy look on his face that made him seem extremely menacing, “It’s best if he shows up, if he does not, then there will be no longer be a place for him in the Xiao Clan.”
“Indeed, what great guts this fellow has, to think that he dared to hit the Eldest Young Master’s face; he is just asking for trouble.”
Hitting his face!
When Xiao Jian heard this, his gloomy face turned even more terrifying. In regard to his status, he was the person with the highest talent in cultivation amongst the younger generation of the Xiao Clan. Before his eighteenth birthday, he was already a peak Martial Disciple and only a single step away from becoming the youngest Martial Master in Mohe City. Xiao Chen was just a piece of trash, yet he actually dared to challenge him. Furthermore, he hit him in the face in front of everyone. What in the world was going on? Xiao Jian had already decided that if Xiao Chen dared to come, he would immediately cripple him, letting him truly taste regret.
Time slowly went by and the appointed time had already passed by four hours but Xiao Chen still had yet to make his appearance. The chatters of the crowd started growing louder and louder. Xiao Jian looked at the entrance, but there was no Xiao Chen in sight. He could not help but feel some frustration.
Xiao Jian murmured to himself and proceeded towards the First Elder of the Xiao Clan, who presided over this duel, “Martial uncle, Xiao Chen is still not here yet, should we send someone to find him?”
The Xiao Clan’s clan head, Xiao Xiong, had already entered a closed-door seclusion cultivation in order to break through and become a Martial Saint. He had left the management of the Xiao Clan’s affairs to the First Elder, Xiao Qiang. For events such as this duel, Xiao Qiang would preside over them as well.
Xiao Qiang coldly stated: “You think that I have not tried to find him in the past few days? The guards of Seven Horn Mountain told me that he went inside and has not left yet.”
When the surrounding people heard this, they found it incomparably strange. There were Rank 2 Spirit Beasts even on the outskirts of Seven Horn Mountain, so if a 9th Grade Spirit Refinement realm cultivator went inside, wouldn’t the cultivator just be courting death?
“Haha, Young Master Xiao, that fellow might have already died at the paws of a Spirit Beast. It looks like you don’t have to personally take action anymore.”
“Even after seven days, he still hasn’t come out. He is definitely dead. No wonder he had not shown up yet.”
Suddenly, a commotion broke out amongst the crowd alongside cries of surprise—Xiao Chen had
arrived!
“Xiao Chen is here, he really is here.”
“Who is the girl beside him? Do you guys know?”
“‘I’ve never seen her. It is almost time for the duel, why did he bring a girl along? However, this girl is quite pretty.”
Xiao Chen just ignored their blabber and calmly walked towards the arena in the middle of the martial hall. Xiao Yulan followed by his side with a frown. She was not used to so many people paying attention to her.
At first, Xiao Jian was shocked when he heard the news of Xiao Chen’s arrival. After Xiao Chen arrived at the stage, however, Xiao Jian simply laughed coldly, “Brother Chen, I thought that the Spirit Beasts had already eaten you at Seven Horn Mountain. I never expected that you would be able to make your way out.”
Xiao Chen smiled gently: “Many thanks to elder brother for your concerns, but before we settle this, how could I allow myself to die?”
At this moment, Xiao Qiang, who had been observing the course of events, suddenly widened his eyes. He looked at Xiao Yulan with a complex expression and walked over quickly and said, “Lan`er, you are finally willing to coming down from the mountain, why didn’t you tell me first?”
Xiao Yulan said a little unnaturally, “I decided to come with cousin at the last minute. I merely came to watch the duel today.”
Xiao Qiang seemed like he had something that he wanted to say, but he did not speak up in the end. In regard to Xiao Yulan, a deep sense of guilt had always been lodged in his heart. When she was small, he sent her to Seven Horn Mountain because she could not control her own Martial Spirit. However, he watched her grew lonelier and lonelier as she grew older. Xiao Qiang felt disgusted at himself, was he too cruel?
When Xiao Yulan was able to control her own Martial Spirit, Xiao Qiang tried to persuade her to leave the mountains a few times. However, Xiao Yulan had been isolated from people for too long. No matter how he urged her, she still would not leave the mountain.